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Author Topic: Why "EN" for Received?  (Read 1412 times)

N5GWU

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #30 on: September 28, 2021, 02:33:20 PM »

I was a Morse op (Ditty Bop) in the USAF from 1970 - 1992.  Hit the ground running out to basic Morse school at Keesler AFB and my first tour was in Alaska.  I "sat rack" copied code 480 minutes per shift using an MC88 (Mill) typewriter and 2 R-390 receivers.  Naturally it was all military but after weeks of sitting the rack you could identify what ops were on duty at the other end and all the weird habits and code chops and made up signs.

A stint in the far East and MENA (Middle East North Africa) introduced ops that were downright hard to copy.  Several countries added letters and special characters to the usual International Morse sets.  They took a while to learn and copy well but of course that just comes with time and patience.

Bad guys in the jungles in Vietnam were another strange group.  They were taught by Chinese and introduced a lot of their own made up code. 

Most of those ops are long since gone.  I can still recognize a military Soviet Ham op when he is on the air but they are fewer and much further between than in the old days. 

There are many special Q and Z and other signs and signals that you will run across.  Old ops recognize them for what they are.  Most people just ignore them as sloppy code or unknown signals.

As my hearing goes south my time sending or receiving are going to grow shorter.  The joy of smooth code from a practiced fist is something to behold.  Old Navy ops loping along at 50 or 55 WPM with really clear code are easy to read and a pleasure to listen to.  Straight key or bug, your choice.  Don't let it die out.  Don't let it get replaced by keyboard Morse, that's like chatting on your phone.  Ick.

73
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AK4YH

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #31 on: October 26, 2021, 04:16:18 AM »

Like DE is French for "from," maybe EN for "entendu," > heard.

Gil.
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K3XR

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #32 on: October 26, 2021, 04:48:17 AM »

Don't let it die out.  Don't let it get replaced by keyboard Morse, that's like chatting on your phone.  Ick.

73

Clearly some hams are better at sending CW than others.  I doubt keyboards will ever completely replace sending by some sort of key, at least in my lifetime.
Maybe it's early and I'm not fully awake as of yet but I'm missing the reference to "that's like chatting on a phone".  If the purpose of a phone is to communicate with others...chatting would certainly fit that purpose.
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K6BSU

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #33 on: October 30, 2021, 06:07:14 PM »

N5GWU.  Great!  My story exactly same as yours.  I even learned enough Russian to know that some ops had a sense of humor.

Once anyone has been through what we did, they should be able to copy ANYONE.  Even the worst CW operators.
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K6BSU

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #34 on: November 30, 2021, 04:10:37 PM »

I'm reminded of my USAF radio op pal who liked to send "RT"  instead of just R

"RT" means "Roger That"
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G3EDM

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #35 on: November 30, 2021, 08:34:55 PM »

I've only been on the air for three months so probably lack perspective but I have to ask:

Isn't "R" redundant?

If you didn't copy some or all of the other op's transmission, then you can ask for repeats of appropriate parts. Or if you are a newbie, send QRS PSE. If conditions warrant it, send SRI NO CPY, QSB, QRM, QRN, whatever.

Otherwise: just assume "R" without having to send it.

OTOH it does, in some respects, give you a short breathing time in a QSO to figure out what to say next. A bit like BT is used sometimes: not just as punctuation but as a kind of breathing space for thought.

Also I suppose the "R" is a kind of courtesy, a bit like saying "I hear you" and of course, analogous to "Roger" in phone traffic. Most CW ops are nothing if not courteous.

73 de Martin, G3EDM
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W6BP

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #36 on: November 30, 2021, 09:29:41 PM »

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a newly-minted licensee, the ARRL sent to all Novices a reprint of an article titled, "Your Novice Accent," in an attempt to curtail some of the, shall we say, creative ways we were making CW contacts. You can find a copy here:

http://www.atcweb.com/tsn/Accent.pdf

The article is somewhat dated, but if you're new to the ways of CW, it's worth a read.

And yes, the EN-with-the-long-dah was in vogue at least as far back as 1966.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2021, 09:33:39 PM by W6BP »
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G8FXC

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #37 on: December 01, 2021, 02:46:40 AM »

I've done it sometimes and I think it is best described as a "displacement activity" - a bit like keying the mic and saying "err...". You've just been listening to the other station and they have handed it back to you, you are still digesting and deciding what to say to them and you need something to fill the dead air... Sending Morse is more like writing an email than speaking - first you need to firm up on the words, then convert them to letters - and that takes some time. At the beginning of an over, I would probably fill out that dead air with "R R R" - if I need to pause during the over to get my thoughts together, I'll fill in with "BT BT BT"..... If you don't use something to fill, then the poor station at the other end is sitting there wondering if you are still there!

Martin (G8FXC)
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K3TN

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #38 on: December 01, 2021, 04:24:07 AM »

I look at CW as more of a language than an encoding formula.

Languages have rules but also dialects and accents and "localisms." When I went to college I had a New York (Lawn Guyland Noo Yawk) accent and tried to chat up a girl from Louisiana - did not end well for me. But this was the University of Connecticut and we both agreed that those Connecticut people talked really funny!

The "lingo" used in rag chewing is different from that used in contesting which is different from that used in traffic handling in CW and SSB, even RTTY. I kinda prefer that to the rigid structure of FT8, for example!

73 John K3TN
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John K3TN

NI0C

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #39 on: December 01, 2021, 09:03:56 AM »

Isn't "R" redundant?
..................

I suppose the "R" is a kind of courtesy, a bit like saying "I hear you" and of course, analogous to "Roger" in phone traffic. Most CW ops are nothing if not courteous.

Martin, I think you answered your own question. A crisp, single "R" at the beginning of a transmission indicates to your QSO partner that you copied (heard) everything.

73 de Chuck NI0C
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N2SR

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #40 on: December 01, 2021, 10:18:34 AM »

I've only been on the air for three months so probably lack perspective but I have to ask:

Isn't "R" redundant?

Otherwise: just assume "R" without having to send it.

Also I suppose the "R" is a kind of courtesy, a bit like saying "I hear you" and of course, analogous to "Roger" in phone traffic. Most CW ops are nothing if not courteous.

73 de Martin, G3EDM

In a contest, a running station will usually send one of two things:

a] send: TU [his call]

b] send: [his call]

TU [his call] is most common.

Anything else is sent should be obvious to the station trying to be worked (and other stations) that the running station did not get the info he/she needed. 

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K8AXW

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #41 on: December 02, 2021, 10:09:07 AM »

GWU - BSU:  When I told my retired Army son (27 years - bird Col.) that we became so familiar with CW operators that we could tell when they changed shifts, were new or old timers, were drunk, sick or simply didn't want to be there, by their fists.  He obviously didn't believe me. 

Your accounts as well as my own observations is why I consider CW as another language, complete with accents and dialects.

Former Ditty-bopper
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KH6AQ

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #42 on: December 04, 2021, 10:37:27 AM »

An R is all important when contesting. The running station will often want to confirm the calling station's call by sending N2SR? If the running station has that correct, N2SR should send R and not repeat his call. All too often though the station continues to resend their call and this means you did not copy my call correctly so here it is again (and again, and again). This wastes time and can break a good run. 
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N2SR

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Re: Why "EN" for Received?
« Reply #43 on: December 04, 2021, 01:40:03 PM »

An R is all important when contesting. The running station will often want to confirm the calling station's call by sending N2SR? If the running station has that correct, N2SR should send R and not repeat his call. All too often though the station continues to resend their call and this means you did not copy my call correctly so here it is again (and again, and again). This wastes time and can break a good run.

Agreed.  However, most ops calling the running station won't send their exchange until the running station gets their call correct.  The calling station typically sends his/her call again. 

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